1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method to determine at least one datum of an implanted silicone implant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Silicone implants are used in, among other things, the field of plastic surgery, and in particular for breast augmentation. Such implants have a casing (shell) of soft silicone (elastomer) and a filling. Common saline solution or different silicone gels are used as filling. Other filling materials have also already been tested, but common saline solution and silicone gels show the best chemical consistency.
After the implantation procedure, the silicone implant is no longer accessible. Situations can occur, however, in which it can be necessary, even years after the implantation, to obtain data about the implanted silicone implant.
For example, during manufacturing an impermissible substance may become included in a silicone implant, or it has turned out (sometimes after years-long studies) that contents of the silicone implants of specific manufacturers are to be considered a health concern or injurious. Industrial silicone may have been deliberately or accidentally used instead of medical silicone in the manufacture of a silicone implant.
In all of these cases it is desirable to be able to determine with certainty either the manufacturer or the product series or the condition of already-implanted silicone implants.
To find this information a patient may turn to the operating physician but in order for this physician to be able to answer the question, it is necessary that the product data of the silicone implant that is used be stored in association with the patient, and still be present even after years have passed, and the data must have been correct in the first place in order to be subsequently used in this context.
In the event that one of these requirements is not valid, an interventional or surgical procedure must be undertaken in which the silicone implant is exchanged, since a “biopsy” always damages the outer shell of the silicone implant, and therefore cannot be implemented.